The number and type of motor vehicle crash deaths differ widely among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A state's population has an obvious effect on the number of motor vehicle deaths. Fatality rates per capita provide a way of examining motor vehicle deaths relative to a state's population. However, many factors can affect these rates, including amounts and types of travel, types of vehicles driven, higher speed traffic, rates of licensure, state traffic laws, emergency care capabilities, weather, and topography.

Data subsections:

Fatal crash totals

There were 34,017 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2008 in which 37,261 deaths occurred. This resulted in a national motor vehicle death rate of 12.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Motor vehicle death rates varied among states from a low of 5.6 deaths per 100,000 people in Massachusetts, to a high of 29.8 deaths per 100,000 people in Wyoming.

States with lowest and highest rates of motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people, 2008

Deaths by road user

In 2008, the types of motor vehicle crash deaths varied across states. For example, New Mexico had the lowest percentage of deaths involving car occupants (28 percent) and the highest percentage of deaths involving occupants of SUVs and pickups (40 percent). In contrast, New York had relatively high proportions of car occupant deaths (43 percent) and pedestrian deaths (24 percent), and a relatively low percentage of deaths involving SUV or pickup occupants (11 percent). The highest percentage of motorcyclist deaths occurred in New Hampshire (22 percent), and the percentage of pedestrian deaths was highest in the District of Columbia (26 percent).

Alcohol involvement

Some states report blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for only a small percentage of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. If BAC is missing for a driver, it is imputed by the US Department of Transportation’s multiple imputation model. Subramanian, R. 2002. Transitioning to multiple imputation — a new method to impute missing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) values in FARS. Report no. DOT HS-809-403. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, BAC information is most precise in states that report a high percentage of BACs. In the following table, estimated percentages of fatally injured drivers with BACs at or above 0.08 percent are shown only for states in which BAC reporting was 70 percent or higher. Estimated percentages are based on known BAC when available and imputed BAC for the remaining drivers.

For the nation in 2008, BAC was reported for 70 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. Maine reported BACs for 95 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers, while Alaska reported BACs for 23 percent. Among states with reporting rates of at least 70 percent, Wyoming (50 percent) had the highest estimated percentage of fatally injured drivers with BACs of 0.08 percent or higher, and Vermont (22 percent) had the lowest.

*Cells with missing data have insufficient reporting of BAC results by state or reliably estimating percent of fatally injured drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent

Restraint use

When examining restraint use among fatally injured motor vehicle occupants, it is important to note that percentages will be lower than observed restraint use because unrestrained occupants are more likely than restrained occupants to be fatally injured. Restrained occupants include occupants in child safety seats and occupants restrained by safety belts.

The percentage of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants who were restrained in 2008 varied by state. Tennessee (15 percent) and West Virginia (15 percent) had the lowest percentages of fatally injured occupants who were restrained, and California had the highest (58 percent). The District of Columbia (29 percent) had the highest proportion of unknowns. For the nation, 42 percent of fatally injured occupants were restrained.

Number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants by restraint use and state, 2008

State

Restrained

Unrestrained

Unknown

Total

Num

%

Num

%

Num

%

Num

Alabama

272

36

453

60

28

4

753

Alaska

19

44

21

49

3

7

43

Arizona

197

25

321

55

67

11

585

Arkansas

142

32

267

60

38

9

447

California

1,176

58

707

35

152

7

2,035

Colorado

186

31

173

46

19

5

378

Connecticut

68

42

70

43

25

15

163

Delaware

40

51

29

37

9

12

78

District of Columbia

5

36

5

36

4

29

14

Florida

687

40

1,004

58

42

2

1,733

Georgia

406

37

579

53

104

10

1,089

Hawaii

25

44

27

47

5

9

57

Idaho

63

27

104

60

5

3

172

Illinois

324

36

339

47

60

8

723

Indiana

264

45

264

45

60

10

588

Iowa

127

41

144

46

42

13

313

Kansas

96

22

186

61

21

7

303

Kentucky

214

27

384

64

1

< 1

599

Louisiana

213

23

396

59

61

9

670

Maine

52

47

46

42

12

11

110

Maryland

202

55

143

39

21

6

366

Massachusetts

69

30

120

52

40

17

229

Michigan

346

51

241

36

85

13

672

Minnesota

153

39

125

40

36

11

314

Mississippi

220

34

432

66

.

.

652

Missouri

216

29

488

65

47

6

751

Montana

46

28

117

70

4

2

167

Nebraska

69

39

91

52

15

9

175

Nevada

96

40

90

46

9

5

195

New Hampshire

25

26

72

74

.

.

97

New Jersey

160

39

165

50

7

2

332

New Mexico

121

48

128

51

3

1

252

New York

345

51

232

34

104

15

681

North Carolina

498

48

478

46

58

6

1,034

North Dakota

18

23

56

73

3

4

77

Ohio

332

41

443

54

41

5

816

Oklahoma

197

35

339

59

34

6

570

Oregon

167

48

92

32

32

11

291

Pennsylvania

338

33

559

55

125

12

1,022

Rhode Island

11

25

29

66

4

9

44

South Carolina

215

33

412

63

32

5

659

South Dakota

28

30

59

64

5

5

92

Tennessee

263

15

458

59

57

7

778

Texas

1,118

22

958

42

181

8

2,257

Utah

96

54

70

39

13

7

179

Vermont

31

49

27

43

5

8

63

Virginia

223

36

374

61

20

3

617

Washington

198

56

126

36

28

8

352

West Virginia

98

15

157

53

40

14

295

Wisconsin

161

38

224

53

40

9

425

Wyoming

35

29

83

69

3

2

121

US total

10,671

42

12,907

51

1,850

7

25,428

Rural versus urban

Sixty-two percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2008 occurred in rural areas. The states with the greatest proportion of passenger vehicle occupant deaths on rural roads were New Hampshire and South Carolina (96 percent).

Number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants by land use and state, 2008